178 Teachers & Principals Named: Atlanta Schools Created Culture of Cheating & Fear
- Posted on July 16, 2011 at 10:02pm by
Scott Baker
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ATLANTA (AP) — Teachers spent nights huddled in a back room, erasing wrong answers on students’ test sheets and filling in the correct bubbles. At another school, struggling students were seated next to higher-performing classmates so they could copy answers.
Those and other confessions are contained in a new state report that reveals how far some Atlanta public schools went to raise test scores in the nation’s largest-ever cheating scandal. Investigators concluded that nearly half the city’s schools allowed the cheating to go unchecked for as long as a decade, beginning in 2001.
Administrators — pressured to maintain high scores under the federal No Child Left Behind law — punished or fired those who reported anything amiss and created a culture of “fear, intimidation and retaliation,” according to the report released earlier this month, two years after officials noticed a suspicious spike in some scores.
The report names 178 teachers and principals, and 82 of those confessed. Tens of thousands of children at the 44 schools, most in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, were allowed to advance to higher grades, even though they didn’t know basic concepts.
One teacher told investigators the district was “run like the mob.”
“Everybody was in fear,” another teacher said in the report. “It is not that the teachers are bad people and want to do it. It is that they are scared.”
For teachers and their bosses, the stakes were high: Schools that perform poorly and fail to meet certain benchmarks under the federal law can face sharp sanctions. They may be forced to offer extra tutoring, allow parents to transfer children to better schools, or fire teachers and administrators who don’t pass muster.
Experts say the cheating scandal — which involved more schools and teachers than any other in U.S. history — has led to soul-searching among other urban districts facing cheating investigations and those that have seen a rapid rise in test scores.
In Georgia, teachers complained to investigators that some students arrived at middle school reading at a first-grade level. But, they said, principals insisted those students had to pass their standardized tests. Teachers were either ordered to cheat or pressured by administrators until they felt they had no choice, authorities said.
One principal forced a teacher to crawl under a desk during a faculty meeting because her test scores were low. Another principal told teachers that “Walmart is hiring” and “the door swings both ways,” the report said.
Another principal told a teacher on her first day that the school did whatever was necessary to meet testing benchmarks, even if that meant “breaking the rules.”
Teachers from the investigation contacted by The Associated Press did not return calls or declined to comment.
Educators named in the investigation could face criminal charges ranging from tampering with state documents to lying to investigators. And many could lose their teaching licenses.
Parents of children enrolled at the 44 schools say they are frustrated and angry.
Shawnna Hayes-Tavares said her son’s test scores dropped dramatically after he transferred out of Slater Elementary. She said a testing coordinator at the new school told her the test scores could have been inflated.
The possibility that there could have been cheating “gives me and him a false sense of security as to where he is,” she said.
Uncertainty about her son’s progress “has not afforded us the opportunity to do more remediation in those areas of weakness,” Hayes-Tavares said. “It robbed us of those opportunities. We’re going to try to play catch up now.”
At Slater, investigators found multiple teachers changed answers on tests or allowed students to look up answers to questions. Teachers would gather in the school’s media center to change wrong answers with the blessing of administrators, investigators said.
For Renee Columbus, whose 4-year-old son is starting pre-kindergarten at one of the schools in the state investigation, news of the cheating probe was disheartening.
“Right now it’s our only option,” said Columbus, who lives in south Atlanta. “I’m hoping by the time he gets into kindergarten, we’ll be in a different school district.”
The fallout from the state report has only begun.
So far, at least four of the district’s top administrators and two principals have been removed and put on paid leave. The head of the district’s human resources department resigned after investigators said she destroyed documents and tried to cover up the extent of the cheating.
The schools could owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding they received for good test performance — money that would be lost at a time when the state’s education budget has already been slashed by millions. Districts are being forced to lay off or furlough teachers and cut programs to make ends meet.
And at least one member of the Atlanta school board wants to reclaim tens of thousands of dollars in bonus money that former Superintendent Beverly Hall received for the high test scores.
Investigators said Hall, who retired just days before the investigation was made public, dismissed those who complained about cheating as naysayers trying to discredit the district’s progress. The investigators said she either knew or should have known about the cheating.
“Dr. Hall and her senior cabinet accepted accolades when those below them performed well, but they wanted none of the burdens of failure,” investigators wrote.
Hall’s attorney has denied the allegations, and Hall has said she did not know about cheating in the district.
She apologized in a statement last week for “any shortcomings” that might have led to the widespread cheating.
“To the extent that I failed to take measures that would have prevented what the investigators have disclosed, I am accountable, as head of the school system, for failing to act accordingly,” Hall wrote. “If I did anything that gave teachers the impression that I was unapproachable and unresponsive to their concerns, I also apologize for that.”
The testing problems first came to light after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that some scores were statistically improbable. The state released audits of test results after the newspaper published its analysis.
Experts say the Atlanta cheating scandal has become the new rallying cry for education advocates and parents in other urban districts like Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., where cheating investigations are ongoing.
Bob Schaeffer of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, which works to end abuses in standardized testing and wants changes made to the federal No Child Left Behind law, said many are wondering where the “next Atlanta” will be.
“Because of Atlanta, the media and policymakers are going back and looking at concerns raised about their states,” Schaeffer said. “This is the top issue. When you see a story like this and see the incredible impact of the confessions, you start to look and say, ‘Hey, is there something comparable going on here?’”
___
Dorie Turner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/dorieturner.
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Comments (201)
vegtech
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 6:25amCall Cynthia MCKinney quick, I’m certain its all racial and profiling. Lets get to the bottom of this with input from Jessie J. and Al Sharpton.
Report Post »robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:20amThe demographic breakdown of Atlanta public-school students is as follows:
Black 83%
White 10%
Hispanic 5%
This entire problem is the result of what happens when lying is the order of the day, and leftist propagandists refuse to face up to reality.
The fact is that literally thousands of tests unequivocally attest that black I.Q., as a group in the US, is 85, which isn’t high enough to keep up with the other groups, which include Hispanics, whites and Asians.
We’re always reading about the black/white achievement gap, but what they‘re afraid to tell us is that there’s also a black/Hispanic gap; and a black/Asian gap as well. Pretending that everyone learns at the same speed and level is why “no child left behind” is a failure and cheating was necessary in an attempt to close this gap. This achievement gap is no more than a learning gap. This entire problem involves the reluctance to face reality.
The rabid diversity hounds decided long ago, all by themselves, that there’s no difference in intelligence and learning and, since they control academia and most all of the media and entertainment industry in this country, no one is allowed to tell the truth without being demonized as a racist, hater or bigot. The smear machine is a powerful one and its evil purpose is to retain the “Big Lie,” just as it did in Stalinist Russia and other Marxist countries.
Their latest tactic is to blame the teacher if a kid just can’t learn.
Report Post »ShamanWorld
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:01am@VEGTECH you are totally false. Out of all the immigrant population i the USA, African immigrants have the highest education level. As for USA born Africans(descendants) who have been “mis-educated”, yes the numbers are bleak. If you honestly look at the organized system of unconventional oppression of the African Americans in this country when it comes to their ancestral History(Egypt,Nubia,Kush etc.) which brings knowledge of self, then people will remain ignorant. All they want to tell kids is they are descendants of slaves and I say that is crazy. African civilization has lasted multitudes longer than we here consider recorded History. The religions and Greek myths we have today are all a direct result of the teaching from Ancient Egypt(descendants of Ethiopians.)Knowledge is real freedom.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:30amSo Shaman , by what you are saying is that once a slave always a slave. If Africans are such exceptional students, why has Africa and much of Muslimdon remained in the third world .The Socialists, Liberals, Progressives, Communists, Anarchists, DEMOCRATS ALL, have brainwashed American-Africans to the thought that they have been left behind by White America, from the likes of Barry, Shelia, Jesse, Al, and all the rest of the Poverty Pimps, of all colors( Fwank, Reid, Pelousy) UIf the pealty for Roger Clemens could have been 10 years. the cheating teachers and adminisrators should be fined and fired.
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:31am@ShamanWorld
Report Post »Blacks are not opressed by any means what so ever. They have more RIGHTS, BETTER ACCESS TO FREE EDUCATION IN K-12 AND COLLEGE, GOOD OLD AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GIVES THEM AN ADVANTAGE IN THE EMPLOYMENT INDUSTRY AND MANY MORE THAT I DON’T HAVE TIME TO MENTION. They are kept stupid by their communities by being told that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter, hince the no child left behind law, affirmative action, many more government funded entitlements than any other group in this country. They have been taught for years to be lazy and not work for what they want or try to acheive anything other than a spot on a professional sports team or to be some kind of gangsta rapper. Guesse who has fed them this line of bull including their own BLACK COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE, the libs and progressives, it is the only way they can keep them stupid enough to keep believing their lies. The dumbing down of the black community by the libs and progressives and their own community has led to many changes in certain types of testing for jobs being dumbed down just so they can pass the test. IT IS HIGH TIME BLACKS AS A WHOLE STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR THEIR OWN STUPIDITY AND START WORKING HARD LIKE EVERYONE ELSE.
Look4DBigPicture
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:43am@Robert … that is the most absurd comment on this blog. Blacks are just as intelligent and capable as everyone else on this planet, so quit making excuses for them. Ignorance is a learned behavior, and inner city schools and crackhead parents do a great job of teaching ignorance.
Victimization and entitlement propaganda results in children feeling “I CAN‘T or I DON’T HAVE TO because …” They‘re guaranteed the gov’t will take care of them if they learn how to play their cards right. (Of course, if they get caught, they might go to prison.) Way to go Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. You’re propaganda has successfully enslaved young blacks, while you somehow manage to keep your egotistical poisonous butts in the limelight. Shame on you!
Report Post »robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:47amshamanworld:
“The religions and Greek myths we have today are all a direct result of the teaching from Ancient Egypt(descendants of Ethiopians.)Knowledge is real freedom.”
Yes, knowledge IS real freedom, but what you’re trying to get people to believe are absolute fabrications of the highest order. It’s more lies and obfuscation by the Afro-Centric bunch who have no black record of accomplishment and try to compensate for it by lying about it and co-opting the history of other people.
Egypt was first settled during part of the migration from Europe. That’s no secret as numerous drawings statues and other icons reveal, in addition to mummified remains on display at various museums around the world.
Called the pre-dynastic period from about 5600 B.C. onward, Old European Mediterranean types, Proto-Nordics, and Nordic Indo-Europeans, were the earliest settlers, with the latter group penetrating the territory as part of the great wave of Indo-European invasions.
Much war occurred during the dynastic periods wherein Nubia and other countries nearby were conquered several times in battle. In 2570 BC, Pharaoh Sneferu launched a concerted attack upon Nubia. Egyptian records show that seventy thousand prisoners were taken.
Toward the end of Egypt’s reign, the country slowly became multicultural, due to the large population of slaves and immigrants, and it was no longer a power of any significance. Kind of like the US is right now.
Report Post »robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 10:08amShaman:
“If you honestly look at the organized system of unconventional oppression of the African Americans in this country when it comes to their ancestral History(Egypt,Nubia,Kush etc.) which brings knowledge of self, then people will remain ignorant.”
Egypt was not black, and the whole world knows it, including the chief Egyptologist Dr. Hawass who said exactly that. http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egypt/ig/Ancient-Egypt/Egyptian-Queen-Nefertiti.htm King Tut: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/photogalleries/tut_mummy/photo5.html
“All they want to tell kids is they are descendants of slaves and I say that is crazy.
But why lie to them and tell them they were Egyptians?
“African civilization has lasted multitudes longer than we here consider recorded History.”
What the Egyptians and Hyksos people brought to Nubia in the way of teaching is not the work of Nubians. African civilization has never consisted of anything more than mud huts and villages for 5000 years. They’ve lived a stone-age existence that entire time. They never invented even the wheel or a written language, yet you would have us believe they were an advanced civilization. What other people did for them doesn’t count, as their accomplishments. Any pyramids in what is now Ethiopia were built by the Egyptians as an extension of their Southern Kingdom.
I don’t like having to bring this out, but I’m not going to sit here and be lied to by propagandists.
Report Post »robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 10:27amLookforDbigpicture:
“@Robert … that is the most absurd comment on this blog. Blacks are just as intelligent and capable as everyone else on this planet, so quit making excuses for them. Ignorance is a learned behavior, and inner city schools and crackhead parents do a great job of teaching ignorance.”
If intelligence is determined only by poverty, then why do poor Asians, whites and Hispanics do better than wealthy blacks academically and on every known test in existence today? Why do dirt poor immigrants to this country, who often can’t speak English when they get here, outperform blacks academically?
Are you really so naive as to believe slavery 200 hundred years ago is responsible for black failure today? Then why do blacks perform just as poorly in other countries? In Africa the group I.Q, is 70. You, my friend, are an excellent example of the problems blind obedience to propaganda can cause.
What I wrote are the FACTS. What you wrote is leftist proganda that only the most gullible and naive believe after decades of brainwashing.
I’m sorry, but I’m not playing “Let’s pretend” any longer.
African Americans drop out of school, sell dope or become involved in other crimes, because they realize they can’t do the work. They try to save face by saying they’re not going to “act white.”
There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth and accepting it, then making the right adjustments. Lying is a perpetuation of the problem for which the
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 10:39amThe HORROR!!!
“ALLOWING students to transfer to BETTER SCHOOLS”
That’s what teachers feared?!?!?
More like getting their inept butts FIRED!
More like getting their budgets CHOPPED!
No child left behind = Socialism = Central Planning = NEA = #FAIL
Has anybody seen the Burger King commercial lately?
If you started your own burger joint, would you use machines to crank out burgers?
Or, would you be ‘hands on’?
Would you make ALL THE BURGERS THE SAME WAY?
Or would you customize each burger to the customer’s needs?
SAME for education – Is a one-size-fits-all, socialist, centralized-planning approach to education the best way to teach my children? Or, a MORE CUSTOM, LOCAL approach?
We need a BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS,
INSTEAD of the NEA!
No control, just lots and lots of statistics, freely available, so we can monitor what is working and what is not. All the control and power and money stays local !
Monitor stats by cirriculum, textbook, teacher, principal, syllabus, budget, etc.
WE know what is best for OUR students.
Students are UNIQUE – schools are UNIQUE – DISTRICTS are UNIQUE !
First and foremost, however, ELIMINATE TEACHERS UNIONS.
Chris Christie mentioned they are spending $28k per student??? Is that what I heard?
Hell for that money, hire private tutors for every child, and eliminate the schools!
Or, save money, and hire pvt tutors for every FAMILY!
WHY is it that PARENTS and CHILDREN’S NEEDS are ignored in fav
Report Post »SLAPTHELEFT
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:42am“run like the mob”
How surprising. Is there anything that is not run like the mob anymore? Where is jesse jackson and al sharpton screaming for justice for these black children who have been robbed of their failing grades? I guess this is pure teachers union tactics to make their members look competent. Of course they are standing up for the children when they ensure that a child who cant read up to their grade level is promoted to the next grade. This is a waste of our tax dollars and those involved should be held accountable by our justice dept.
Unless they are black.
Report Post »SLAPTHELEFT
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:46ampersonally I thought robert had a well thought out point and believe it to be supported by facts. Just my opinion.
We spend a fortune on education. Its handed to you. the door is open- walk through it. If you choose not to, I will cry no tears for you and will be pretty pissed off if you screw up my order(again) at the drive thru window.
Report Post »fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:09pmrobert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:20am
+1
Report Post »fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:10pmrobert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 9:47am
shamanworld:
Report Post »======================
+1
fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:12pmrobert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 10:27am
LookforDbigpicture:
Report Post »_______________________________-
+1
Progressives_are_useful_idiots
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:25pmfire every last one of them…. and end the tax-payer funded pensions for all unions IMMEDIATELY!
Report Post »ireport uderide
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:29pmSnide Comment
Perhaps all you citizens in other states should be worried about these things happening in your predominantly Democrat urban areas.
Because up here in Washington State we never worry that this sort of thing goes on, especially in 30 + years of Democrat controlled state house or 40 + years in our big city of Seattle.
Our local media are to concerned about children, they would never allow any investigative reporter to look into such negative behavior. Nor would our Legislature allow such behavior to go punished. They know which side their campaign bread is buttered.
Even if these dirty deeds were happening here in Washington State, our motto is.
“For the children”.
Report Post »obama-mecca-me-sick
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:58pmUnions at work.
Report Post »Lloyd Drako
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:26pmRobert:
If ancient Egypt was peopled by people of “Old European,“ ”Nordic“ and ”Indo-European” stock, then you would expect that ancient Egyptian would have been an Indo-European language, which it was not. It belonged to the Afro-Asiatic family and resembled Somali, Galla and various Berber languages spoken in North Africa today. Afrocentric fantasies about Europeans having “stolen” their civilization from Egypt, hence from Africa, are totally misleading. So is the idea that natives of Africa were incapable of producing a civilization of their own, which ancient Egypt manifestly disproves.
South of the Sahara, Africans prior to the modern era were innocent of many things such as the plow and the wheel. This meant that those who did not remain hunter-gatherers practiced a sort of horticulture with hand tools rather than the extensive agriculture that became endemic to Eurasia (and North Africa). But this was not so much the result of Africans’ genetic inferiority as of the prevalence of fly-borne diseases which were lethal to livestock.
Report Post »Edct
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:55pmMore stupid black students and more dishonest stupid black teachers….is this country going to hell or what…..these are the same stupid moron racists that voted for the half white muslim terrorist imposter in the white house….simply because he was part black…..many people in this country are really too stupid to be allowed to vote….but le’ts keep passing these failing black students and try to get them out of high school before anyone finds out how screwed up the educational system is…..
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 2:50pmFirst off you forgot Shelia lee out of Texas. Her and the rev. Al Sharpton can get these poor teachers reinstated. The main thing I want to know is where is the NEA union. These folks paid good money in union dues. I would ask for a new steward and file a greivance right now. You have rights as a union member and they can not do this .
Report Post »robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:48pmLloyd Drako:
“Robert: If ancient Egypt was peopled by people of “Old European,“ ”Nordic“ and ”Indo-European” stock, then you would expect that ancient Egyptian would have been an Indo-European language, which it was not.”
Egypt never was established as a complete nation until Menes brought the northern and southern kingdoms together, which was about 3100 B.C. Durng two thousand years there were a smattering of people living in the area in addition to the Indo-Europeans, some of which were were Semitic tribes.
The Indo-Europeans also settled into what is now India in the Indus Valley in Asia. What bearing that might have had on the language in Egypt I don’t know, but certainly the smattering of other tribes, that were eventually driven out, certainly had some influence on the language after 2000 plus years. They also inundated what is now the Iranian area, and, of course, Greece, about 2300 B.C.
“So is the idea that natives of Africa were incapable of producing a civilization of their own, which ancient Egypt manifestly disproves.”
Ancient Egypt proves unequivocally that blacks did NOT build any kind of civilization there, unless you count their work as slaves. How about the mummies, some with yellow or red hair? Why does Dr. Hawass not agree with you? Do these statues look like blacks? Carving a statue from black material doesn’t mean the figure was black.
Report Post »Ra-Nofer, 6th dynasty. http://tinyurl.com/3au6cue
Rahotep and Nofret
Bust
robert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:06pmLloyd Drako:
“South of the Sahara, Africans prior to the modern era were innocent of many things such as the plow and the wheel. This meant that those who did not remain hunter-gatherers practiced a sort of horticulture with hand tools rather than the extensive agriculture that became endemic to Eurasia (and North Africa). But this was not so much the result of Africans’ genetic inferiority as of the prevalence of fly-borne diseases which were lethal to livestock.”
That had nothing to do with their backwardness. How on earth can a people with an average group I.Q. of abut 70 do anything but remain in a hunter/gatherer stage? Are we to believe Ethiopia (Nubia)
Report Post »with a national I.Q. of 63 built the pyramids and left statues and drawings of people who were obviously non-black?
I. Q. and The Wealth of Nations, Lynn:
I.Q. average
Zambia 77
68 Congo 73
68 Uganda 73
70 Jamaica 72
70 Kenya 72
70 South Africa 72
70 Sudan 72
70 Tanzania 72
75 Ghana 71
76 Nigeria 67
77 Guinea 66
77 Zimbabwe 66
79 Democratic Republic of the Congo 65
80 Sierra Leone 64
81 Ethiopia 63
82 Equatorial Guinea 59
fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:15pmLloyd Drako
Report Post »Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:26pm
====================================
-1
fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:17pmrobert
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:06pm
Lloyd Drako:
Report Post »====================================
+1
fatjack
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:54pmLloyd Drako
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:26pm
Lloyd you are must be a product of revisionist history.
Report Post »Aufruhrer
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 12:19pmWhat happens when it all falls down? When malcontents on the one side take up arms against the malcontents on the other? Uh oh.
Report Post »Shattered Allegiance
historypaper
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 6:07amThese so-called teachers are simply “permanent passers” that push the kids, particularly the slower learning children, from grade to grade, to make sure their paychecks increase. These teachers, permanent passers, without guilt, hurt the children to protect their cash flow. In opposition the colored teachers that pulled this off must be terminated at once, jailed under the “enough is enough law” of common sense and honor that honest citizens understand. I’m confident that the permanent passers “teachers” will blame a system or process just like any bank robbers.
Report Post »The door should be closed on their teaching careers at once but watch the hard-left progressives support their eager actions.
Teacher unions, pensions and now they even directly cheat the children.
Every teachers union teacher should put their head down in shame as they walk to jail.
Consteacher
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 7:09amAs a 20-year teacher in a mainly black high school, I can tell you the pressure on us to ‘perform’ is tremendous. I was once written up for ‘teaching’ and told that “we don’t educate, we teach the grade level expectations.” In other words, we teach the exit tests. There is no consideration of economic status (many have no home access to computers) or that mom (usually no dad) is also dumb as a brick. We need to go back to teaching and not just trying to get the kids to pass the exit exams. After all, isn‘t that what produced the ’Greatest’ generation?
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:00amCONSTEACHER You can only save the savable ….. keep that in mind
Report Post »Blacks need to stop their culture of generational destruction. They need to realize that the Libs only feed that beast.
spikebu
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 5:31amI don’t think we “get” it. My neighbors daughter got a full ride athletic scholarship to a state college. She had a 4.6 GPA. She had founded a Young Republicans group at her HS. She was dumbfounded when she was required to take a gay and lesbian studies class in college. It was not elective. That was 6 yrs ago. My question to you people with children? What do you expect them to learn from these “teachers”? Honor thy Mother and thy Father? Get real! Reality is, “Decry thy Mother and Father for they have robbed from the underprivileged, but more deserving, to give to you”. By all means, pay them to “enlighten” your children. It’s a bit like paying the hangman to make your rope. We don’t need them. They need us.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 6:15amSchools are the source for most of the ills that face this society right now. They teach kids what to think, not how to think. Government intervention at it’s finest.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 7:05amI’m 47 and when I was in grade school, we had one student that kept getting passed on from grade to grade even though he couldn’t pass tests. We all had to take a test in the 8th grade (this was a country school that went from 1st-8th) and he made pretty patterns on his test sheet and somehow tested to take high math his freshman year in highschool. He read about on a 1st grade level, wasn’t a trouble maker, they just didn’t know or want to bother with teaching him correctly.
Report Post »Progressives_are_useful_idiots
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:31pm@ HKS –right on the head. We must take control of our schools if we are ever going to restore America to greatness. The sickness that is liberalism eats us from the inside out and undermines morality and reason
Report Post »SHOWMESTATEGUY
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 2:52amWhere I went to school a 4.0 was the best you could get?
Report Post »GiGi80
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:25amThat is truly amazing, particularly as 4.0 is the maximum attainable GPA.
Report Post »waldens1
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 2:20pmactually you can get higher than 4.0. You have 2 types of grades which are weighted and unweighted. Your weighted grade can be higher if you take scholars or advanced placement classes. So, if someone has straight A’s in all normal classes, they will get a 4.0 however, if a student decided to challenge themselves and take more difficult advanced placement classes, which actually count towards college credit, and that student gets all A’s, thir score would be greater than 4.0, weighted against the fact that the classes they took were more difficult.
Report Post »lee48md
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:55amThis is one more reason to nullify the dept. of ed….it’s all about money. They could not care less about the students. And no more teachers’ unions!
Report Post »smalldog
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 6:53amI wonder how much they got in “Race To The Top” grants from Obama?
DOE – taking from children everywhere and further enabling and rewarding cheaters.
Report Post »ireport uderide
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:05pmIf these charges are true I hope they throw the book at them;
Suspended- with full pay while investigating charges.
then if;
Found guilty- Let them keep their suspension pay. Allow them to retire or take early retirment.
Let them keep their teaching certificates so they can pollute another district.
or if;
Found Not Guilty- Sue the ass off the district. Raise taxes to pay for lawsuits. Go back to corrupting our children in school with half-truths and lies about American History.
“Don’t let a crisis go to waste”.
Report Post »louise
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:47amOnce again the children suffer. No Child Left Behind is a disaster…..but that does not give those responsible for the cheating a free pass.
Report Post »Why is America’s public school system in such a mess? Progressive, socialist, programs. Tenure. Unions. Discriminatory hiring practices ( a friend’s daughter found out quickly after graduating with a 4.0 that she needed to know someone on the inside. So much for studying hard and beign fairly considered for a teaching position!).
Solution? Shut down the National Education Association and let the states handle their own public education. Someone above said vouchers. That will work, too.
Children are worth our love and effort to do it RIGHT. Just remember, they will be running things before long.
Countrygirl1362
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:56amJust goes to show what happens when the govt. gets involved in trying to fix things. The more invovled they are the worse things get.
Report Post »spikebu
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:19amAnd nobody was fired. 5 or 6 people got PAID leave, but NOBODY WAS FIRED? I suppose the kids will get expelled for cheating? A culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation? My first thought is Union. Second is Mob. Used to be the other way around. Are these witnesses going to need new identities? This is ABSURD! Pull your kids out of school. Make them read and write everyday. It’ll qualify them for Harvard in 5 years or less.
Report Post »spikebu
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:51amBob Shaeffer sounds like a Union man to me. I don’t know what his job was, but it sounded like he was supposed to be checking the testers and tests. It sounds to me like he learned about this (as if) just like we did. Another clueless government employee. Go figure.
Report Post »olddog
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:46amSo all the crooks responsible for this are getting a paid vacation, wonderfull..
Report Post »mrclean
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 11:15amyeah, and don’t forget that our illustrious government (dubya) instigated the whole mess with the no child left behind. Do any parents connect the dots? incredible.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:14amDianne, Not all parents can be heavily involved in their child’s education. That’s why we hire college educated teachers. I consider myself educated but working 50 to 60 hours a week, I really didn’t have the time to sit down with them every night.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 4:14amBURNTEYE86, I worked those same kind of hours, but I made sure that I read to my child every night. I would trace every word with my finger as I read, and he made the connection that what I said, and what I was pointing to, was the symbol for what I said.
It was amazing. It just “clicked” in his head. One day, he said: “Mommy, this means (what I just read to him, as he pointed to it). You must pay attention to your children, each and every day. Why even have children if you don’t have the will and fortitude to guide their development?
I did many different things during my life. As a teen, I babysat, worked as a waitress, and was a bank teller. In my twenties, I was a mainframe computer programmer. The rest of my life, I was a business owner. I was married for over 33 years, and divorced. I was a multimillionaire, but I’m not now. I think that it‘s a good thing that your child doesn’t inherit unearned wealth. Every parent wishes that their children’s life will be better than their own, but every child MUST make their own way in life.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:08amGOOD JOB teachers, GOOD JOB! You selfish pieces of s***. You not only don’t give a damn about your Country, you don’t give a damn about these young students who have been entrusted to you by their parents for a decent education. You are selfish. It’s probably partly due to how your parents raised you I suppose.
Report Post »WhatTheHuh
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 2:22amThe next phases of this story:
Blame Bush for instituting No Child Left Behind, with the excuse that the program “forced” them to cheat.
Parents sue the school district for some quick cash (although it appears even without NCLB as an excuse, these kids would have been poorly educated anyway.)
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:18amGet rid of the unions, get rid of tenure, TEST THE TEACHERS and keep the best and brightest. Teachers need to get back to basics and stop teaching to standardized tests. If they are truly doing their jobs, standardized tests should be a snap and kids will want to learn. There is no excuse, considering the money per pupil, that children are not learning in school. I commend the Atlanta school system for taking action against these individuals and hope other school systems follow. It is time to put the children first and the unions out of business.
Report Post »LIBSALWAYSLIE
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 6:10amgrandmaof5, well said, I agree.
Report Post »kuhl
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:16amThey will probably all get the Medal of Freedom from the President for their great work in desegregation.
Report Post »pschlentz
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 2:18amWhat a surprise, Liberal in, Liberal out. Fire the Bastards!
Report Post »Hungry_i
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:19amLet’s start at the top. Here’s a vid of Dr. Beverly Hall, Superintendent of Schools, Atlanta. How proud she is of her accomplishments!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpJKyuFjTeg
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 2:16amHome schooled all of my kids. They can all read, count and think. They have high moral standards. And we didn’t cheat.
Report Post »godlovinmom
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:47amI homeschool …daughter doing very well, and I didn’t even need a college education to do it…for anyone interested…K12.com… online school is excepted by most states…if you can devote 2 to 4 hours per day to your child…homeschooling is the way to go.
Report Post »GiGi80
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:27am@2Godlovinmom
“I homeschool …daughter doing very well, and I didn’t even need a college education to do it…for anyone interested…K12.com… online school is excepted by most states…if you can devote 2 to 4 hours per day to your child…homeschooling is the way to go”
excepted = accepted. A college education might have been helpful. Please tell me that you are not teaching her to write. And, for the record, most teachers spend more than 2 to 4 hours per day with children.
Report Post »BonnieBlueFlag
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 2:10amMost people aren’t Harvard material. Even with the perpetual dumbing down of our education, a significant percentage of the population would be better suited to the trades. What’s wrong with that? Being a mechanic is good, honorable, honest work (sometimes lol.) Being a janitor, jeweler, electrician, plumber, carpenter, etc. is honest, honorable work. Why don’t we teach these trades in school? The world needs a lot more plumbers than actuaries. Why do we insist that every packaged genetic amalgam master algebra? It’s not realistic. We should counsel the intellectually or ambitiously-challenged to learn a skill or trade and we should skip the grueling and impossible task of trying to turn “The Situation” of The Jersey Shore into Michio Kaku.
Also, I’ve had many teachers in my life and around 85% (solely my estimation) got into teaching out of pure laziness. No other reason. The laziness starts in college, where an education degree is the fall-back for business and marketing drop-outs. These lazy students are further lured by the promise of summers off and good benefits, all while never having to show an increase or contribution to production … until No Child Left Behind came along.
Bottom Line: Stupid Kids + Lazy Teachers = Cheating. What did you think would happen?
Report Post »ExpertShot
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:19amWhen I was in graduate school, I had to take some classes w/graduate level education majors, most of whom were teachers trying to obtain masters degrees. In one class in particular, we had to set up an experiment (didn’t have to do the statistics or actually run the experiment, just had to show we understood how to set up an experiment, or study), the education majors who were in our class were complaining it was too hard (I learned this in undergraduate school, when I was studying for my BS in Psychology. We had to come up w/a hypothesis, set up the experiment, run it & do the statistics to present in class). My thought at the time was, “these are some of the dumbest ”smart” folks I’ve ever seen in my life”.
Report Post »Dodsfall
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 8:28amDoes anyone find it surprising that the “unintended consequences” of progressive policies always end in absolute failure?
Paraphrasing the classic Casablanca line-
Report Post »I am shocked, SHOCKED to see there is cheating going on here!”
GiGi80
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:19am2Godlovinmom
I homeschool …daughter doing very well, and I didn’t even need a college education to do it…for anyone interested…K12.com… online school is excepted by most states…if you can devote 2 to 4 hours per day to your child…homeschooling is the way to go
excepted = accepted. A college education might have been helpful. Please tell me that you are not teaching her to write. And, for the record, most teachers spend more than 2 to 4 hours per day with children.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:50am“… Shawnna Hayes-Tavares said her son’s test scores dropped dramatically after he transferred out of Slater Elementary. She said a testing coordinator at the new school told her the test scores could have been inflated.”
___________________________________________________________________________________
Well, Ms. Hayes-Tavares, why didn’t YOU know how your child was doing in his elementary school? Did you spend time with him when he was doing his homework? Did you volunteer at least one day, every two weeks, at his elementary school?
It’s parents like Ms. Hayes-Tavares, who believe that it‘s the government’s job to educate their child, when actually it‘s the parent’s job, and they are surprised that their child is reading at a first grade level when their child is socially promoted to middle school.
You just know that these parents never spent one second listening to their child read anything.
Report Post »godlovinmom
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:49amHave to agree with you there…parents don’t want to be parents…let alone teach their children to read and write…
Report Post »Brasil2520
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:45amOops here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-EAYncCRok
Report Post »jeffyfreezone
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:45amMark Steyn had a great piece on this the other day. I don’t expect the MSM to look into it. They always cover up wrong doing by democrats and unions. Meanwhile, these poor little kids lose their chance for a better life. Though I would like to see the department of education dissolved, if it isn’t the next conservative president should consider Michelle Rhee as Sec. Of Education. She will see to it the dirtbags are thrown out, and these kids have a chance at the American Dream!
Report Post »GiGi80
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:11amNo unions for Georgia teachers. And how do you KNOW that every single person involved in this is a registered Democrat? I am guessing that you somehow magically have access to voter registration records for all involved. This constant inane rhetoric that EVERYONE who sins or does criminal acts is a Democrat is just ridiculous. How about basing opinions on reason and evidence rather than some Pavlovian regurgitation of the latest partisan talking point? And before you accuse me of being a “soshalist librul” — I am a moderate and I am aiming this criticism at ultra-left-wing moonbats as well as ultra-right-wing. And as a(non-union by choice) teacher, I am appalled by what these teachers and administrators did! This is — despite the current fashionable vilification of teachers — not the norm!
Report Post »Brasil2520
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:44amRon Paul nailed it, back in 1988
Report Post »dmforman
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:36amAs a former GA teacher, there are no unions in Georgia. The unions have professional organizations, but not unions per say. To me, what this scandal shows has nothing to do with unions, but everything to do with how many in the country has lost their own integrity. People cared more about keeping a job, than doing the right thing and being able to hold their head up high. Those involved in this cheating have said that they were forced to do it and I have to disagree. Yes, superintendents, administrators, principals, assistant principals may have put pressure on teachers to cheat, however that does not make it right or justify the choice of doing so.
As teachers pay is more and more riding on student achievement, I see cheating to be more and more coming out in the news. Atlanta may be the first with this type of scandal, but it will not be the last. Real overhauls in education need to take place. Real teaching, higher standards for student achievement and integrity need to be in our schools. I have been a teacher since 1996 and have seen cheating by teachers on standardized tests often, never to this extent or so blatant, but it’s not new. Until all that participated are prosecuted and integrity becomes a badge of honor, I see similar scandals happening elsewhere and in the years ahead.
Report Post »Gypsy123
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:34amIt is the dumbing down of America. If they are dumb you can control them. Why didn’t they just flunk the kid and make them take the class over until they got it. They did that to us. And our group produced the Bill Gates of the world. Cover up don’t pay people.
Report Post »mramise
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:33amMove along nothing to see…….please move along nothing to see here….just some Democrats being caught cheating at school grades, vote and election cheating, and we cannot forget lying too……. Move along just normal behavior for a Democrat…………
Report Post »sweetscience
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:32amDoesn’t matter – nothing will be done anyway. I mean, really…What can you do? In the inner-city these kids come to kindergarden without knowing even the basics of a b c’s or even how to count to ten. In many cases they don’t know colors or even their own full names. Worst of all, the incorrigable behevoirs are so ingarined, even at such a young age, the teachers are spending 75% of their time just trying to keep some kind of order. And to top it off, black teachers don’t / won’t exibit proper disciplinerary measures to black students, so the behavior problems are never adressed. What you WILL hear, is that “No Child Left Behind” created this corruption, so of course the whole scandal is Bush’s fault.
Report Post »jeffyfreezone
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:49amI went to 1st grade not knowing those things. That’s why we have schools, to TEACH those things, not lie, cheat, and steal these kids’ futures!
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:57am@ jeffyfreezone
“Jeffy”, so sorry to hear that your parent(s) didn’t read to you on a daily basis, as most responsible parents do. My own son could read before he went to kindergarten; could count to one hundred; and knew all the colors in the crayon box.
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:31amVouchers, Vouchers, Vouchers….. That is the only real solution
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:21amWow, where were the illustrious Union’s when this all took place?? They certainly weren’t protecting the teachers from the principal, and where were the unions for the kids. Oh yes, I certainly would want the unions thugs to help me. And now, where are any of these peoples scruples.. oh they don’t have any.. I feel very sad indeed for the children of these school (s). Its time that all of them lose there jobs and never teach again. And its time for the Union thugs to go away. And one last thing, no more tax payers monies to pay retirements. Teachers are no better than plumbers, or sanitation people. Somewhere they got put on a pedestal and now its time to yank it out from under them. Look to your Union thugs for your retirements.
Report Post »dmforman
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:37amThere are no teacher unions in Georgia. We are a right to work state.
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 3:14am@dmforman
A right to work state doesn’t necessarily mean no unions. I lived in a right to work state for nearly 50 years, and there WERE unions – the only difference is that in a right to work state you aren’t REQUIRED to join the thugs. There were and are still unions in my former state.
Report Post »Dale
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:16amPrior to the 2008 election, I told my sister in law that I knew odumbo [BIG EARS!], wanted to be king. I didn’t understand why he wanted to preside over a third-world country. (The reason is slowing coming into focus), but we see that the unions (in this case teachers’) don’t care about the students! They care about maintaining their positions. How sad it is that we have come to this point. Firstly, the students are harmed – they don’t get a quality education. Secondly, society is harmed. Again, firstly, because we pay for an uneducated populace, and secondly, we pay for their failures; monetarily, emotionally, and socially. How blind we are to engage in the health care debate, because there are public funds involved (and they should not be); yet we ignore this equally (perhaps more) important disaster.
Report Post »TheBountyGrimm
Posted on July 17, 2011 at 1:10amIt’s all for the Kids!
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